Guide to buying a Smartphone

By HASNAIN ZAHEER

In this update series on personal gadgets buying guides, I am re-visiting the articles that I wrote more than 2 years ago. At that time, I had written about PDA phones: what to look for in terms of features and did a review of products.

I will update you now with the latest changes, trends and products that can help you communicate work and get entertained on the move via smartphones

While the name itself has evolved from PDA phone to smartphone, the two most interesting updates in this field are:

1. The massive popularity of Apple iPhone helped by its AppStore applications and games store; and

2. The launch of Android OS, an open source platform backed by Google and several other players in the mobile phone market.

But first, is a smartphone for you? A smartphone can set you back by more than $500 and if its advanced features in computing and applications are not of use, then a standard mobile phone is perhaps appropriate for you. Remember that a mobile phone today is loaded with features such as camera, Bluetooth, infrared, address book, alarm and alerts, basic Web browser and much more. And all this may be available for upwards of $100 only. Also note that a smartphone requires a mobile data usage plan. So, there would be an additional cost over your existing mobile phone bills. With a smartphone however, you can give your laptop some rest and just go out and do all the business and work with it. E-mail, office applications such as word processing, PDF documents, spreadsheet and presentations, and a Web browser are available as a minimum standard. Hundreds of applications are available in the applications stores that you can purchase online, download and install in your smartphone

Features to look for iPhone OS is developed by Apple, used in iPhone and it has enjoyed great awareness because of AppStore which allows developers to make available their applications for purchase and share 70% of the revenue with the rest going to Apple. Operating an iPhone is also very easy and user friendly Windows mobile OS has a familiar interface and so people used to working with Microsoft Windows and Office on their PC find it easy. A range of smartphones host it.

* Form Depending on whether you use it for mostly voice or for typing, you may opt for a full keyboard or one that slides out. A full keyboard will be more convenient to type long e-mails and work on documents of reasonable size.

* Connectivity Look for wi-fi connectivity so that you can use it at your home or office that has wireless Internet, saving you the usage of bandwidth from your mobile phone provider, which is usually more expensive.

* Operating System Android is an open source operating system that has the backing of major companies such as Google, Intel, HTC, Motorola and more than 50 other hardware, software and telecom companies that form the Open Handset Alliance. Google has made available several of its applications such as search, Gmail and Maps. You can download applications and games at its online storeAndroid Market.

Because it is open source, it gets wide support and interest from developers and is set to grow quickly to be the leader. For now, its breadth of available features and applications is limited though.

Symbian OS, the default operating system for Nokia remains the most popular operating system.

* Applications With iPhone’s AppStore as the pioneer in democratising the development of applications, now there are applications stores for Blackberry – Blackberry AppWorld and Android Market. Thousands of applications are available to perform virtually every function possible with the confluence of the connectivity of Internet, adequate processing power and convenience of mobile device.

So, the user-friendly iPhone and its wide range of applications, Google-driven Android open system, and launch of some really smart devices such as Blackberry Bold, Nokia N97, HTC Magic and Touch series, have ensured that it’s time people looked at how smart is their mobile phone. In the next article, we would explore the phone models and data usage plans available.